Groundwater on Mars

The preservation and cementation of aeolian dune stratigraphy in Burns Cliff in Endurance Crater are thought to have been controlled by flow of shallow groundwater.[1]

Rain and snow was a regular occurrence on Mars in the past; especially in the Noachian and early Hesperian epochs.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Water was theorized to seep into the ground until it reached a formation that would not allow it to penetrate further (such a layer is called an aquitard and is believed to be impermeable). Water then accumulated forming a saturated layer. Deep aquifers may still exist.[8]

  1. ^ Grotzinger, J.P.; Arvidson, R.E.; Bell, III; Calvin, W.; Clark, B.C.; Fike, D.A.; Golombek, M.; Greeley, R.; Haldemann, A.; Herkenhoff, K.E.; Jolliff, B.L.; Knoll, A.H.; Malin, M.; McLennan, S.M.; Parker, T.; Soderblom, L.; Sohl-Dickstein, J.N.; Squyres, S.W.; Tosca, N.J.; Watters, W.A. (2005). "Stratigraphy and sedimentology of a dry to wet eolian depositional system, Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 240 (1): 11–72. Bibcode:2005E&PSL.240...11G. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.09.039.
  2. ^ Carr, Michael H. (1995). "The Martian drainage system and the origin of valley networks and fretted channels". Journal of Geophysical Research. 100 (E4): 7479–7507. Bibcode:1995JGR...100.7479C. doi:10.1029/95JE00260.
  3. ^ Carr, Michael H.; Chuang, Frank C. (1997). "Martian drainage densities". Journal of Geophysical Research. 102 (E4): 9145–9152. Bibcode:1997JGR...102.9145C. doi:10.1029/97JE00113.
  4. ^ Baker, V. R. (1982), The Channels of Mars, 198 pp., Univ. of Tex. Press, Austin.
  5. ^ Barnhart, Charles J.; Howard, Alan D.; Moore, Jeffrey M. (2009). "Long-term precipitation and late-stage valley network formation: Landform simulations of Parana Basin, Mars". Journal of Geophysical Research. 114 (E1): E01003. Bibcode:2009JGRE..114.1003B. doi:10.1029/2008JE003122.
  6. ^ Howard, Alan D.; Moore, Jeffrey M.; Irwin, Rossman P. (2005). "An intense terminal epoch of widespread fluvial activity on early Mars: 1. Valley network incision and associated deposits". Journal of Geophysical Research. 110 (E12): E12S14. Bibcode:2005JGRE..11012S14H. doi:10.1029/2005JE002459.
  7. ^ Stepinski, T. F.; Stepinski, A. P. (2005). "Morphology of drainage basins as an indicator of climate on early Mars". Journal of Geophysical Research. 110 (E12): E12S12. Bibcode:2005JGRE..11012S12S. doi:10.1029/2005JE002448.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference NG-20190920 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).